Global Courant 2023-04-16 02:59:59
An official from the Chinese embassy in the United States emailed an aide to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, expressing China’s “serious concern” about an upcoming hearing on the origins of COVID-19.
In an email sent at 2:15 a.m. Friday, Li Xiang, the Chinese embassy liaison to Congress, emailed the staff member about the April 18 subcommittee hearing, titled “Investigating the Origins of COVID-19, Part 2: China and Available Intelligence.”
“I am Counselor Li Xiang of the Chinese Embassy in the US. I am reaching out to express our grave concern about the COVID-19 Origins Hearing to be presided over next Tuesday by Congressman Wenstrup. According to the announcement, the hearing will be investigated “China’s complicity in the COVID-19 crisis and hold China accountable. We firmly oppose it,” Xiang wrote in the email.
A spokesman for the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic told Fox News Digital that the Chinese embassy’s attempt to silence the subcommittee’s work is “absurd.”
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A security guard takes journalists away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (AP photo / Ng Han Guan, file)
“What is China trying to hide? The Embassy’s attempt to silence the Select Subcommittee’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19 is absurd and will not work. Holding China to account for its role in this crisis is an essential part of our country’s preparation to deal with future national security threats and pandemics Chairman Wenstrup is determined to investigate all intelligence related to where and how this pandemic began Members of the Select Subcommittee will not continue their investigation halt or delay because of “serious concerns,” foreign intimidation, and unfounded opposition,” the spokesperson said.
The April 18 hearing will include testimony from former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe and former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs David Feith.
This is not the first time the Chinese embassy has tried to pressure lawmakers seeking information about where the virus started.
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Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) speaks at a news conference with members of the House Intelligence Committee at the U.S. Capitol on August 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
In March, Xiang sent a letter to Senator Josh Hawley’s chief of staff, R-Mo., saying the legislature’s bill to release information about the origins of COVID-19 was an act of “political manipulation.”
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House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) (C) questions witnesses at a subcommittee hearing with leading member Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) (L) at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 08.02.2023, in Washington, DC. Witnesses and subcommittee members aired their disagreements and debated the possible origin of the COVID-19 coronavirus and whether it came from nature or from a lab in China. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“I am reaching out to express our serious concern about the ‘Covid-19 Origin Act of 2023’ (S.619), which falsely claimed that the Covid-19 coronavirus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, China of accuses of blocking international investigations, refusal to share information and lack of transparency etc. and demanded the Director of National Intelligence to release information related to the origin of COVID-19. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this,” the letter said.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @asabes10.
